Star Citizen player reminds Starfield fans to be careful what they wish for with full-planet exploration

A Star Citizen player is pointing out to disappointed Starfield fans that planet exploration isn't all its made out to be.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Starfield's planets weren't fully explorable and open-ended, meaning you'd be placed in distinct areas on a planet, rather than have the entire thing open for exploration. Some Starfield fans were pretty disappointed by the revelation at the time, deeming this to be a downgrade from exploring open-ended planets.

One Star Citizen player, though, has pointed out that these disappointed Starfield fans shouldn't be taking the news so hard. In the Reddit post below, the player writes that, without having much to do on a planet itself, exploration quickly becomes rather boring, and even monotonous, leaving a player let down after they first reach a new planet.

As a Star Citizen refugee, not being able to explore an entire planet is not a bad thing. from r/Starfield

"I've played Elite Dangerous and NMS - like you say, being able to land absolutely anywhere with no loading screens is really cool, but I'd much prefer the depth of having actually explorable structures and reasonable numbers of enemies, if it means giving up the 'land anywhere' stuff," writes the top-voted comment under the Reddit post.

Keep in mind that Bethesda's taking a unique approach when it comes to planet exploration. When a player lands on a procedurally generated planet, the game will render a handful of handcrafted locations for them to explore, all of which will be appropriate for the atmosphere of the planet itself.

So if you land on a rocky planet, you might find a mine, that will have been handcrafted by the development team at Bethesda. This news should at least take the sting out of reduced planet scope for players - it sure sounds like Bethesda is trying something original with the design of Starfield's planets.

Follow along on our Starfield launch live coverage blog for all the latest news in the run-up to the Starfield early access launch tomorrow on September 1.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.